RNC fundraiser resigns after report of $1.6 million Playmate payoff

GOP fundraiser Elliott Broidy has stepped down as Republican National Committee deputy finance chair, according to three people familiar with the matter.

The departure followed reports on Friday afternoon that in 2017, President Donald Trump’s attorney Michael Cohen had negotiated a $1.6 million payment on Broidy’s behalf to a Playboy Playmate who said that Broidy had impregnated her.

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The resignation was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

He is the second RNC Finance Committee member to step aside in recent months.

Broidy, a 62-year-old Los Angeles-based investor, is an influential figure in Republican politics who has provided hundreds of thousands of dollars to GOP candidates and committees over the years.

He played a key role in helping Trump raise money ahead of the 2016 election.

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He also sits on the board of the influential Republican Jewish Coalition, a group funded in part by billionaire megadonor Sheldon Adelson.

Broidy has come under increasing scrutiny in recent months amid allegations that he tried to negotiate a multimillion-dollar fee to get the U.S. government to cease its investigation into a Malaysian investment fund.

Cohen, whose Manhattan home and office were raided earlier this week by FBI investigators, remains on the RNC finance committee.